WATCH: London Police Run Away As BLM Protest Turns Violent Over Arrest Of Black Man
As protests and riots have swept across the United States sparked by the death of George Floyd — the 46-year-old African-American man who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes during an arrest — other Western countries have seen similar demonstrations break out.
In one chaotic moment caught on video Sunday, London police found themselves swarmed by a group of Black Lives Matter protesters, some of whom began to hurl objects at the officers. In response, the police turned and ran away en masse from the protesters. After the eruption of violence, one of the men involved openly admitted to taking part in the violence against authorities.
A few videos of the incident were posted online, including by Sky News Senior News Editor Tyrone Francis, who posted video of the eruption of violence at a protest and made a point of highlighting that the police were forced to “seek refuge” in the nearby Foreign Office.
“Police seek refuge inside the Foreign Office after clashing with protesters following the arrest of a man,” wrote Francis, adding the hashtag #BlackLivesMatter and a solidarity emoji.
In a follow-up post, again expressing solidarity with protesters, Francis tweets: “A protester hurls a bike and another uses a broomstick to hit at police outside the Foreign Office.”
Police seek refuge inside the Foreign Office after clashing with protesters following the arrest of a man #BlackLivesMatter
A protester hurls a bike and another uses a broomstick to hit at police outside the Foreign Office #BlackLivesMatter
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Sky News Correspondent Noel Phillips posted another video taken from inside the dramatic clash:
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Phillips followed that post with a series of tweets with Black Lives Matter hashtagged photographs and videos documenting what took place, including one photo showing an officer injured in the violence. One video shows two protesters arrested during the conflict, both of whom appear to be white. Another video shows police reinforcements arriving.
Phillips also posted a brief interview with one of the protesters who proudly explained that he was at the center of the clash and blamed the police for the incident.
“They had detained and were trying to arrest a young black man, and I thought he wasn’t doing anything, he was just standing around,” the man said. “So I thought I can’t let this happen, I’m going to go stop an unjust. So I ran in to try to stop what was going on. Three cops come, they grab me, they rip my shirt. So I start scuffling with them and then a bunch of people start running in, and projectiles are thrown. And we chased the police down there…”
Two protesters arrested as police battle with protesters outside foreign office
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After posting the violent videos, which have been given graphic content warnings by Twitter, both Sky News employees made a point of celebrating what they said were mostly peaceful protests in the city.
“280 characters is simply not enough to put into words the passion for change on the streets of central London,” tweeted the Sky News senior editor. “These peaceful protesters were robbed of their meaningful moment.”
“I feel for the thousands of protesters who marched shoulder to shoulder amid a deadly pandemic. Their demand: an end to racism and inequality. But, while a small number of people hijacked the movement for their own ends, here’s why many took to the streets,” wrote the Sky News correspondent, linking to an article he wrote.
280 characters is simply not enough to put into words the passion for change on the streets of central London. These peaceful protesters were robbed of their meaningful moment. #BlackLivesMatter #ukblm
See Tyrone Francis's other Tweets
Protesters clashing with police as they try arresting a man #blacklivesmatter
I feel for the thousands of protesters who marched shoulder to shoulder amid a deadly pandemic. Their demand: an end to racism and inequality. But, while a small number of people hijacked the movement for their own ends, here’s why many took to the streets news.sky.com/story/all-we-a…
See Noel Phillips's other Tweets
